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Fearing for your life every time you walk outside, every time you get behind the wheel, every time you see a police officer, every time you breathe, is exhausting. Living in a world in which your blackness and woman-ness makes you less than human -- a hypersexual, angry or subservient caricature, the constant target of catcalling, rape and assault -- is exhausting.

In order to truly make our communities safer, we must make sure that people who have served their time are able to fully and productively engage in our society -- whether through education or employment or some other constructive means.

My professor's perception was rooted in a common false meme that has followed black America since slavery -- the idea that we lack financial acumen, don't know how to build businesses, need to be told what to do with our finances, and are overly reliant on government handouts.

Wouldn't it be great to celebrate black people, just for being black? Nothing is more positive than flipping the script. Where there is oppression, we will uplift. And where there is hate, we'll inject love.

"He that is greatest among you shall be your servant." The late Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa, modeled servant leadership in action. His leadership focused on the importance of community-building and empowering others to lead social change.

America has always relied on black forgiveness to absolve itself of white guilt. The Charleston massacre was no different. By choosing to highlight the forgiveness of the black faith community, they shifted the burden of responsibility onto the oppressed in a classic display of deflection.

When I visited Christian Love Baptist Church in Irvington, N.J. on July 19 and heard Johnson speak, six years after her son's death, it wasn't a dramatization of events it was real life. A mother poured her heart out to a congregation, which understood her pain.

While access to culturally diverse providers is low, the cost of mental health treatment remains high, which serves as an additional impediment to bridging the gap between the onset of symptoms and accessing professional care.

When I went to South Africa in 2010 to lead a creative writing club for teenage girls, I made sure to emphasize that word: club. I had never taught writing before, didn't have a teaching assistantship as I earned an MFA in nonfiction. I would not be correcting their grammar, nor assigning homework. Besides, how could I persuade girls to spend their Saturday afternoons in a writing class?

I am sorry for having even an ounce of doubt because I did not want the legacy of America's dad being black to deteriorate. I apologize for being so obsessed with that legacy that it blinded me to any wrongdoing.

Getting behind the wheel, Bland had three strikes against her. She was black, female and fearless, a combination that is antithetical to all the vaunted white-centered narratives of driving and freedom in the U.S.

While police brutality affects people of all races and backgrounds in the U.S., it's important to note that black citizens face a unique experience within America's criminal justice system, just as they've faced a unique state of affairs for centuries in the United States.

Since seeing the Sandra Bland video, I've been asking myself what I would've done if I were in her shoes. In my mind, I hear my momma telling me, "That's why I always tell you not to talk back to authority."

The Mothership - the iconic stage prop made famous by legendary funk collective Parliament-Funkadelic - has been acquired by the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture where it will help anchor a permanent music exhibition when the museum opens its doors in 2015.

"I'm about to cry!" Parliament-Funkadelic frontman George Clinton said over the phone from his home in Tallahassee on Wednesday. "They're taking the Mothership! They're shipping it out! ... But I'm glad it's going to have a nice home there."

It isn't the original Mothership. This 1,200-pound aluminum spacecraft was built in the mid-'90s - an indistinguishable replica, Clinton says, of the smoke-spewing stage prop he first introduced to slack-jawed funk fans in 1976.

Comments: (13)

By: DARYL R WILLIAMS on 5/19/2011 1:22PM

By: OOOZZZZZ on 5/19/2011 6:12PM

Neutral

Great call Smithsonian Institute and the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Parliament Funkadelic.....Funk.

The original DNA that took the James Brown formula ("On the one"), broke away and propelled itself from Soul/R&B music roots and because of their originality and complexity, they ushered in a completely new sound and genre in Black music in the 70's/80's and helped change the sound of so many original R&B bands to change to funk music (like The BarKays and Earth, Wind & Fire) and encouraged so many funk band off shoots,...... The Ohio Players, ConFunkShun, The Dazz Band, Cameo, Lakeside, Instant Funk, Sun, The Gap Band, KC and The Sunshine Band, Chic, Graham Central Station, Trouble Funk, etc who all used that funk formula to create some of the best Black music ever created (and still going strong) and also helped lay the foundation of samples, beats and hooks for Rap/Hip Hop music.

By: eNuffNews on 5/19/2011 8:09PM

Neutral

Our History is in SongFollow the music and you will see the past present and future. It's like HiFi SciFi, to quote Bootsy "Funk is making something out of nothing" the creativity of a people which inspires the world.

By: nixb2 on 5/19/2011 8:37PM

Neutral

They were the best in funk music...I remember the days when I would go to the concerts...WE HAD FUN!!!!...Best to them in getting a part in African American History at the Smithsonian....They definitely deserve it...

By: P-Funk on 5/19/2011 8:52PM

Neutral

as a man who grew up during this era,I can`t help but sit here and reminice on some of the best times in my life and music culture.Everyone flash a big P-Funk sign.The Mothership has landed in the Chocolate City,and its going to be a Motor Booty Affair. Well deserved my brothers,now Go Wiggle !!

By: J.R. Richardson on 5/20/2011 11:25AM

Neutral

Congrats to George Clinton (President of Chocolate City) and P-Funk! This is a momentus occassion for the funk band that has a musical spin on just about every kind of music created. When this museum is errected, I will be able to go and view the history of P-Funk and relive all the memories of the concerts in Detroit dating back to the now defunct Olympia Stadium. The funny part will be trying to explain to my kids what the Mothership Connection is!

By: Topcat on 5/20/2011 11:43AM

Neutral

...kudo's to The band that defined an entire generation and set the bar that has yet to be acheived....George is the epitome of musical creativity everyone who came after him owes him their careers....too bad they never got the recognition they deserved! to be shunned from mainstream american music (Grammys)(AMA) but embraced and celebrated in the U.K. not to mention having his Master recordings stolen from him and not be properly compensated for it. George you have and always will be my hero. Fantasy is Reality in the world today!

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